Working Title
by SnappleFact71
Summary: All Human. Bella's mother marries Phil who has two kids; Rosalie and Jasper. Bella is now related to the Forks High Golden Twins. How do the Cullens play into this? Well read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so I guess this isn't really the first chapter, more like the intro. I've got a lot more done already it's being edited today and will be up later tonight, hopefully I'll have three more chapters up by tomorrow. I hope you like this story! This intro is a little dull but I had to get all of the facts straight before diving into the story. Remember this is ALL HUMAN!!! If you're unclear of something write a review and I'll make sure I clear it up in a later chapter. You may have noticed that it is rated M for mature, this chapter has nothing "riskaaaaayyyyy" in it but I promise I will warn you in the description before hand. **

**I do not own Twilight or any of its characters and I am not Stephenie Meyer. I am merely a bored fan with way too much time on her hands. **

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**BPOV**

The wedding went as smoothly as it could. Rosalie made a spectacle of herself by getting plastered and Jasper sulked in the corner with his girlfriend. I could never quite tell if he was happy or miserable, he always wore that same indifferent face. This day wasn't about either of them; it was about my mother and Phil who was Rosalie, and Jasper's father. He was a nice enough guy, his children however, were spoiled rotten.

My mother was now Renee Swan-Hale. Although I had a strange feeling she was going to drop the whole 'Swan' thing all together. And that leaves me as the last remaining Swan. My father, Charlie, had died when I was little leaving my mother and I behind in the small town of Forks Washington.

It was strange to think that I was the last of the Swans, as far as I knew I had no cousins to carry on the name. I didn't know my father when he died, so I didn't know if this was something he would care about. Judging by the way my mother talked about him, I didn't think he would.

Forks was a small, quiet town. That is... It was before the Hales moved in during my sophomore year. Phil is a retired baseball player; he was never that great but he invested the money he did make which made him a fortune. Jasper and Rosalie were his twin children from his first marriage. Jasper was... Well he was quiet. He really only hung out with a small group of people. He wasn't snotty or rude, some people may have described him as stuck up, or arrogant. I didn't know him well enough to judge. I did, however, know Rosalie and she was extremely stuck up, not to mention rude, snotty and just all around mean.

Wealthy kids had a way of always seeming to be at the top of the food chain in high school, and that's what Rosalie was. She was the girl every girl most feared, and envied. Except for me, I just feared her and she knew it. We were in the same grade, so in sophomore year we had most of the same classes, in every single one she would sit behind me and complain about not being able to see over my massive hair... I had really big hair that I had a little trouble controlling. All through my classes that year I had to deal with her complaining and flirting with Edward Cullen.

The Cullens were slightly different, the family of five consisting of two sons, a daughter, and then a mother and father were the most liked family in town. The father was a doctor at the local hospital and the mother was a teacher for the second grade. They moved here a little while before the Hales did. Their entrance to our small town was a lot less intrusive than the Hale's. Rather than building a giant mansion in the middle of town that I sadly, now had to live in, they settled on a house that was barely even in Forks. Alice Cullen and Edward Cullen were the same age as me, Edward was an adoptive son, and they mainly hung out together, except for a few exceptions. The other Cullen son, Emmett, went off to college before the family moved to Forks therefore nobody at school had ever met him.

Jasper happened to be one of the exceptions in the close knit Cullen-clan. He was a best friend to Edward, and at the same time dating Alice. He may have well just been one of them. Rosalie on the other hand was never really invited into that group, as she was with every other group in school; therefore she made it her goal to either outshine them, or be accepted by them. I had always wondered if Jasper got a secret kick out of this.

Now by now you may be wondering where I fit into this mix. The truth is; I don't. My friends are completely separate from the Cullen/Hale royalty of the school, and I was happy to keep it that way, but now being related to half the royalty may change things a bit, most likely for the worse.

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**Remember this is just the intro, it's not supposed to be the most thrilling thing you've ever read. **

**Hope it's all clear so far! Please R&R!!!??!??!?!?!?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay folks! Here's chapter two, I tried to upload it a couple days ago but fanfiction wouldn't let me sign in... Anyone else have that problem? Well anyway, here you go!**

**I don't own Twilight, any of the characters..... although Edward can own _me_ any time he wants :D**

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**BPOV**

It was exactly one week after the wedding, it also happened to be the first day of my senior year of High School. I was still getting used to living in the Hale's house, my room was roughly the size of three of my old rooms, with a walk-in closet and a bathroom added on. In this room I felt insignificant. There was so much space, and I had so few things to fill it. All of my stuff was on one end of the room while the other half just had a desk and a vanity. The empty space made it seem cold, and uncomfortable; two things that should never be used to describe a bedroom. I missed my small, cramped nook of a room at least that room was cozy.

The bathroom was the one thing I couldn't complain about. In our old house we had had one small bathroom that I had to share with my mother, it was awful to get ready in the morning. On more than one occasion I had to wash my face and brush my teeth in the kitchen sink. My mother was very much into vanity, she had good reason to be I guess. She was absolutely gorgeous I wish I had inherited more of her looks, my father's genes were unfortunately the more dominant of the two. I guess it didn't really matter though I had never really been into fashion or make-up or anything like that. I simply wore clothes that were comfortable, and didn't have the patience to paint my face every morning. It didn't matter, it's not like anyone was looking.

Last night my mom had broke the news to me that since I didn't have a car, and Jasper got a ride from Edward and Alice, I would have to ride with Rosalie. When I tried to protest my mother only looked at me with a pout, saying it would "mean so much to her if we bonded". It was a fat chance but I knew I would have to at least try for her.

I was waiting in the kitchen for Rosalie to be done getting ready. We only had five minutes before the first bell would ring; I wouldn't be able to handle this all year. Rosalie came down the stairs a minute later with an unpleased expression. I guess it was good to know that I wasn't the only one dreading the two-minute car ride.

Rosalie had a very expensive, very red convertible. Getting into the car I was very careful to make sure I had no mud on my shoes. Of course she was already in tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the steering wheel impatiently as if I was the one who was going to make us late. As soon as the car was on she turned the stereo up all of the way to some trendy station where I didn't recognize the songs. We didn't speak along the way at all, which was fine with me. I really had nothing to say to her, once in the parking lot she shut off the blaring music and turned to me in full bitch mode.

"Count to twenty, then leave the car," she said through gritted teeth. And with that she left the car and met up with some of her friends.

I ignored her wishes and pushed out of the car right after her, trying not to notice the angry stares I got from her and her friends when I stalked past them. I would not be late because of her embarrassment of me. The bell rang as I entered my english class, the teacher didn't say anything but he seemed a bit annoyed. I hurried to take the last empty seat in class, which happened to be right behind Alice Cullen, who was sitting next to Jasper.

Jasper gave a polite nod as I passed him, and Alice simply smiled at me. I tried to return the gestures, but it probably ended up as more as a nervous grimace. I was never very good at the whole communication thing. I was surprised that Jasper had acknowledged me at all. He was by far my favorite of the two but that wasn't exactly saying much. Maybe I had been too quick to clump him with his sister.

The first half of the day went by rather quickly, I had a couple classes with this girl, Angela who was really nice, so I was pleased about that. Lunch was always my favorite part of the day. Everyone was so wrapped up in their own lives that they didn't notice the girl sitting in the corner reading, which was good with me. I didn't bother with the whole lunch line thing, I simply went to the corner table and opened my book.

I jumped when the chair across from me began to pull out. I looked up, expecting to see Angela, or some lonely freshman, but was surprised to see Jasper and Alice.

"Hi, Bella," said Alice. "Do you mind if we sit with you? It's kind of packed in here.

"Uhh, sure." I said lamely, trying to sound less weirded out than I actually was.

"Thanks," they both sat down and started eating. I hadn't brought a lunch today, so I just continued to read my book.

"So Jazz tells me that you moved in last week?"

Jazz?

"Um, yeah," I said. She kept looking at me, expecting more. "The house is huge." I added, hoping that by now they both didn't think I was completely insane.

"Yeah, it is really big," she said politely. I felt bad that she was trying so desperately to make conversation. I tried to think of something else to say.

"How are you two liking senior year so far?" I asked. It was the standard question of the day.

Alice smiled, and was about to answer when the chair next to me slid out and a body plopped into it. I looked up to see Edward Cullen with a worried expression. He was holding up his notebook, trying to hide from something.

"Help," he hissed to Jasper.

Jasper smiled, it was the first time I had ever seen him express any kind of emotion. Other than the forced smile he had on for the wedding photos. He whipped his head around to see Rosalie two tables over waving to Edward.

"I told her to lay off," said Jasper. I was shocked to actually hear a sentence from him.

"Well tell her again! I can't handle this for another year."

"She can be a bit... abrasive? Can't she?" added Alice.

"That's an understatement," I said quietly under my breath.

The three of them must have heard, because they all snapped their heads in my direction and started chuckling in agreement.

"You know her?" asked Edward, as if he had just realized I was there.

"Edward!" Alice exclaimed in a shocked tone. "This is Bella," she paused waiting for him to realize... he didn't "Jasper's new step-sister?"

"Oh, right," he turned to me. "Hi, I'm Edward."

"Hello," I muttered focusing on the folded applesauce lid that I used as a book mark. My face was blushing like it always did when I was with new people. Luckily they all jumped into a discussion on a party where Rosalie had apparently tried to jump Edward. Edward was exceptionally good-looking, it only made sense that Rosalie -the life size Barbie would be attracted to the life size Ken doll.

The bell rang for next period, they all said bye to me and left, even Edward. My next class was chemistry, it went by quickly, we were assigned lab partners. Unfortunately there was an uneven number so I would have to be paired with the teacher if nobody filled up the empty slot.

PE was my last class, and my least favorite class. Of course I had it with my least favorite people. Rosalie, Jessica and Lauren were the three meanest girls in school. It only made sense that they were in my PE class; it made even more sense that the coach decided to pair us up alphabetically so I, Bella Swan was paired with Jessica Stanely. While Lauren Mallory and Rosalie Hale ended up together. This was going to be a great year.

For our first day all we had to do was listen to a lecture of safety rules, I seriously hoped everyone else was paying attention, because I was a hazard of my own when it came to PE... or any physical activity including walking. At the end of class Rosalie informed me that she had plans, so I would have to find an alternate ride home. I was fine with that, it wasn't raining, and so walking would be no problem. At my locker I was collecting my things when I noticed Jasper a couple lockers down.

He nodded.

I nodded back.

We were getting better at communicating. I was putting my backpack on when it started down pouring outside. I silently thanked my mother for making me take an umbrella. I fished it out from the bottom of my bag and started heading out the doors to the empty parking lot. On my way out I passed a very wet Alice, who was probably coming in to hurry up Jasper.

"Hi Bella," she said as she passed.

"Hey," I replied as she hurried down the hallway.

The rain was cold, which was to be expected. But the wind wasn't as predictable; it hit me like a slap in the face, my rain jacket, which was designed for severe conditions barely kept out the cold. This was going to be the worst ten-minute walk ever. And I had a sinking feeling that this wasn't the last time Rosalie was going to blow me off.

The parking lot was empty except for a silver Volvo parked right in front of the school, the car was on and I assumed it was Edward waiting for Jasper and Alice. As I passed on my way to the road the horn beeped. I turned around to see a hand waving me over to the car. I walked up to the driver side window.

"You're walking home?" asked Edward.

"Yeah... My ride kind of left me." I replied as I turned to leave, I was already soaked and this was only delaying me.

"Waid, we're dropping off Jazz anyway, get in."

"Are you sure?" I asked, I really hoped that he was, because my shoes were already filled with water.

Get in the car, Swan," he said grinning. I obeyed willingly.

The car was already warmed up; it was heavenly. Although I would have said that abut a damp cave at the moment, so I guess it wasn't really saying much. He must have used some kind of air freshener because it smelt great. There was soft music playing in the background.

"So Rosalie blew you off," he stated rather than asked.

I nodded.

"Not very surprising. Why would you ride with her in the first place?" he asked, probably assuming I was some kind of social climber.

"I don't have a car," I said simply.

He nodded.

"Also... My mom wants us to become 'sisterly'"

That made him laugh.

"Rosalie Hale is everything BUT sisterly."

The back doors opened and Alice and Jasper climbed in. Neither of them seemed surprised, or annoyed by my presence. We got to the house in a matter of seconds; Edward drove like a maniac. I thanked him for the ride again and went into the house, followed by Jasper. We stood in silence in the kitchen, both not knowing what to say to the other, it wasn't exactly awkward, I knew he was quiet. It was more like we were both trying to be polite.

"So," Jasper said.

"So," I replied.

"Listen," I started. " I didn't in any way mean to "intrude on your turf" or anything like that today. I understand that as Rosalie would so greatly put it 'we're from different circles.'"

His expression didn't change. It was like he didn't hear me.

"Do you want to ride with us from now on?"

His question took me off guard. He seemed relieved when he finally asked, like he had been forced to say it.

"Oh umm... You sure?"

"Yeah, it can't be that pleasant riding with Rosalie. Plus, we're going to the same place anyway." It was the longest sentence I had ever heard him say.

"Yeah, thanks Jasper." He turned and went upstairs.

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**Okay, okay I know... Once again not a lot happened. I'm still kind of finding my stride with this story. I really enjoy writing it though... I can see it going places. I have a few more chapters done, but I hit a snag, I need to write some of them from Edward's POV so while I'm doing that I hope you read, review send me angry PMs go for it haha. I love hearing from you guys, even if it is angry. I have an LJ too so check that out it's the same as my IMDB and Youtube... it's SnappleFact71.**


	3. Chapter 3

**hey! so I'm sorry it's been a while.. a really long while. I actually finished this chapter a while back and just finished four (I had to rework a lot of stuff) so I'll be posting that tonight also. **

**EPOV**

After dropping off Jasper and Bella, Alice and I made our way back home. I hadn't really seen a lot of her today, since we were the same age the school had always made a point not to have us have the same classes, it was nice to be separated, but next to Jasper she was my best friend so it felt weird to be apart after spending every day this summer with her. She filled me in on all of her classes, told me about how Angela, one of her really good friends, was starting to get over me.

It was always annoying when Alice's friends developed these stupid crushes on me. Angela was really pretty, and nice. But I just didn't sense any chemistry between us. It also didn't help that my friend Ben was practically in love with her. Luckily he didn't know about the infatuation.

Angela was at least discrete about it, which I was thankful for. Rosalie on the other hand was everything but discrete. Even Alice, the girl who would befriend a beetle wasn't a fan of Rosalie and her little followers. Of course she would never admit to hating her, but I could tell that she really didn't care for her at all.

"I think Ben might finally ask out Angela," said Alice as we pulled into our driveway.

"Oh? It's about time," I couldn't help but smile though, Ben had a long talk with Jasper and I the other day. I think we helped him finally work up the courage. "Do you think she'll go for it?"

"Not sure, probably."

When we got inside Alice's phone began to ring, I assumed it was Jasper so to give her some privacy I left her in the kitchen, running up the stairs to my room. My room was my favorite place, it was the one place in the world that was completely mine, Carlisle had even put a slide lock on my door so I could have my privacy. I had a small couch and three shelves stocked with my favorite CD's and books. My bed was huge, and extremely comfortable. My favorite part of it had to be the high tech keyboard that Carlisle had gotten me so I could practice in my room. It was nothing like playing the grand piano we had downstairs, but it was nice to practice with the headphones on so I could write my music privately.

This room had been a work-out room not even two years ago. That's when I came to live here with Carlisle and his family. My father had died when I was little, and then when I was sixteen my mother's cancer began to be a problem. Carlisle was her doctor, he was with me when she died. During all of the visits he and I had a special bond, that went beyond that of a normal doctor/patient relationship. He cared about me, as if I was his own son. That's why rather than letting me become a ward of the state, he took me in. He was the nicest person I knew and I owed him so much.

His wife, Esme didn't know I would be coming home with him when I did. I had expected it to be a problem, but it wasn't at all. As soon as Carlisle told her what had happened she understood, and it never became a problem. At first she and I had a shaky relationship. She was trying not to be a mother figure to me, knowing that she couldn't replace my own. She and I had an unspoken rule where she acted as an aunt to me. It worked for the most part, but at times I wonder if she's hurt by the fact that I so openly accept Carlisle as a father, when I will never be able to accept her as a mother.

I sat down at my keyboard, my mother was the one who had taught me to play, whenever I played I thought of her. I put on the headphones and turned it on, the familiar hum of it coming to life was ringing in my ears. I played a piece by Bach for a little while, but soon it was a melody that I had been toying with all week, thinking of Esme and my relationship, how it was both loving and sad inspired me to write a song that started sad and ended strong and happy, but at the same time unsettling. I wrote down my song on some blank staff sheets that I kept in my desk and then filed it away in my binder that held all of my compositions.

After that was done I went to my bed, with my book bag and started doing some homework. It was amazing that our teachers found it necessary to give us so much work on the first day. I was just about done with my Spanish work when there was a soft knock on the door.

"Dinner," said Alice.

I got up from the mess of papers on my bed and followed Alice downstairs to the dining room. Esme was in the kitchen stirring something on the stove, she was still wearing her name tag that teachers were required to wear on the first day for the kids.

"Hey, Mrs. Cullen," I said eying the tag.

She looked down confused and then laughed.

"Hello, Edward why don't you take this to the table and I'll be right there," she said handing me a bowl of broccoli and cauliflower. "Carlisle should be home any minute."

Alice took her usual seat across from me as Esme slid into her seat that was at the head of the table. As we waited for Carlisle Esme asked us about our days. I didn't have much to say, except for the fact that I hated having Honors Chemistry right after Calc. Both of those classes were extremely difficult and having them back to back, in the morning no less, would eventually be a problem.

Carlisle walked in a little while later. He greeted us all, but after that dinner was silent. There seemed to be a tension between Carlisle and Esme, Alice and I had noticed it last week too. She shot me a glance when we were clearing the dishes, which I knew was to let me know that we needed to talk about this. Personally, I didn't really want to talk about it. It was so much easier to ignore it, and pretend everyone was happy. But Alice had always been there for me, so if she needed to do something about this then I would help her.

"Do you think they're fighting?" she asked. It was sad to see the look of worry in her eyes, I was constantly reminding myself that unlike me she had been with them her whole life, so them apart would be devastating to her.

"Maybe," I said, her eyes grew wider. Carlisle and Esme never fought. "I'm sure it's nothing," I added. "It'll blow over, trust me."

She nodded, but she didn't fully look convinced. She decided to call Emmett, that was my cue to leave. Emmett and I got along pretty well, but there was an awkwardness there that I didn't like. He was off at college, and had been since before I got here so he and I had never really bonded. When he came home one weekend he was suddenly without a work-out room and with a brother. He was a nice enough guy, but he and I were so different that the little time we had together wasn't enough to really get to know one another. He was into sports and and was working to become a lawyer at Harvard. Over the summer he hadn't come home, instead he stayed to take some courses so he could graduate a year early.

A little while later Tanya called, she was at college now and we had decided that it would be best to end what ever it was we had together. I guess most people would call it "friends with benefits". I never was interested in having a relationship with her, and she wasn't with me. We were old friends, it just happened that we were both bored on the same nights over the summer. Alice thought it was immature of me, but it was just some fun.

She called to let me know that she wasn't coming home until Thanksgiving. The way she said it made me feel that maybe over the break we would be getting together which was fine with me. She had been the one to break things off, she said she didn't want to be tied down when she went off to school, which I had understood. But apparently when she was home she was perfectly fine with being "tied down".

I fell asleep that night thinking about Tanya, however she didn't star in my dreams as it would have been expected. Instead I had a scattered dream where Rosalie Hale was standing outside my door with a jack hammer. I woke with a cold sweat. I considered crossing my room and checking outside my door, but pushed the stupid thought from my head. Glancing at my alarm clock I saw that it was five-thirty, twenty minutes before my alarm was set to go off.

I sighed as I got out of bed, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep I headed to the shower.

**Please Read and Review. I enjoy both bad and good reviews so have at it. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own twilight**

**BPOV**

Dinner was uncomfortable. Everything about it was forced. Mom and Phil mixed with three moody teenagers was a terrible combination. Phil pretty much headed the conversation by asking each of us, individually how are days were. Each of us were expected to give a lengthy, detailed explanation. I was first.

"Well..." I started, glancing around the table nervously. "My day was alright."

It was a lame answer, but it was all I had. Phil seemed disappointed, but was willing to let the lack of detail slide, my mother, however was not so cool about it.

"Did you make any new friends?" she asked.

I openly blushed as Rosalie smirked. It was a known fact that I didn't have many friends, I guess the question was normal for a mother to ask her daughter. It wasn't so normal that that daughter now had two of her classmates at her dinner table with her.

"I... Um, this girl Angela is really nice," I said softly. "Oh, and I met Alice and Edward Cullen they're nice too."

At this Rosalie's smirk disappeared and was replaced by a hateful glance in my direction.

Nobody caught it but me.

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Driving with Jasper, Alice and Edward in the mornings was surprisingly comfortable. Alice and Jasper sat in the back seat while I sat up front with Edward. Alice would keep the conversation going with her usual perkiness while the rest of us would nod along politely. During school Jasper and Alice would greet me in the hallways, Edward would too, but only when he saw me. Edward was the type who was usually surrounded by a crowd of friends. Lunch would be pleasant, I usually kept my book out, but only half read it, in all honesty I was enjoying the company. Being a loner was losing some of its appeal.

The first four days of school were the same routine. However, Friday proved to be something quite different.

"Bella, what are your views on truancy?" asked Alice from the back seat of Edward's car.

We had just pulled into the school parking lot on another dreary morning. I turned around to face her trying to get the joke, but she wasn't smiling.

"Umm... I guess I don't have any."

"Good," she said, smiling as she got out of the car. "Because today we're cutting our last class to drive over to the mall. You in?"

"You want me to come with you?" I blurted out, pathetically before thinking.

"Yes, Bella," said Alice, in a mock annoyed tone.

I blushed, despite myself.

"Sure, thanks." I turned around in my seat to hide my face, unfortunately as I did so Edward caught my eye and chuckled. My already crimson face grew two shades darker.

The day went by normally after that as hard as I tried I couldn't help but think about our trip to the mall. Spending an afternoon out at the mall with some friends well, acquaintances was such a typical thing to do. Even cutting class was completely normal, and yet it was all foreign to me.

It wasn't like I never had friends. Before High School I was one of the typical little girls, going to slumber parties and playing dress-up. Granted I had never been quite as in to it as everyone else, but I was still invited. When High School started, and everyone went off with their own little group I didn't cling on to anyone. Not that I didn't want to, I just didn't mind being alone.

At lunch nobody brought up the mall trip, so neither did I. Well that was kind of a given, I rarely brought up anything.. or spoke unless spoken to. It was usually Alice who would do all of the talking. She would expertly weave the conversation in and out of topics that could pertain to all of us, asking us each our opinion in a non get to know each other kind of way. It was just casual and I was thankful for it.

"Oh, and Emmett is coming up this weekend!" Said Alice, to Jasper after a lengthy description of her psych teacher's annoying habits to gnaw on his pen cap while lecturing.

It wasn't completely uncommon for Alice to jump from subject to subject so randomly. It was, however very uncommon for Edward to focus his full attention away from doodling on his notebook to look at her with utter shock and something that looked a lot like worry on his face.

"I didn't know Em was coming up," He said, trying to sound casual as he slowly relaxed his facial muscles. This strange behavior went unnoticed by both Alice and Jasper, but I couldn't help but dwell on it after we left the cafeteria.

From what I knew about Emmett, which wasn't a lot. He was very smart and very athletic. Those two traits don't exactly explain why the thought of him visiting had such an effect on Edward. It was strange to be wondering about Edward's inner workings. He was, after all practically a stranger to me. I felt intrusive as I entered my chemistry class.

I thought I could use my class to focus my attention on something else. This plan immediately fell apart when I looked up to my lab table and saw Edward Cullen sitting in the previously unoccupied seat.

"Ah, Miss Swan," said my Chem teacher; Mr Mason. "You'll be pleased to know that we've found you a lab partner."

He said it as though he had done me a huge favor in getting me a lab partner, when in actuality I knew that Edward had simply switched into the class to fill the open spot.

"Hey, Bella," he said as I took the empty seat next to him. He smiled politely as he always did, but he seemed to still be distressed. My curiosity grew.

"Hello," I said trying to sound friendly and not my usual timid.

Mr. Mason started the class right away we were taking notes which was for the best because it took my mind off of Edward and his family troubles. Mr. Mason worked us right up until the bell at which point Edward gave me a nice nod and exited the classroom.

I hadn't noticed until I let out a sigh of relief that I had been nervous the whole class. It must have been the idea of having to make small talk with him at the end of the period, I was terrible at stuff like that, and without Alice I feared that any interaction between the two of us would be nothing but awkward.

My fretting over the whole Emmett/Edward thing... Which I had no business fretting over in the first place had completely taken my mind off of the mall trip so while I was at my locker fishing my gym uniform from out of my bag I was surprised to see Alice pop up right beside me.

"Ready to go?" she asked, sounding extremely chipper.

"Go?"

"To the mall, Bella!"

I almost backed out, right then and there because in that one small interaction I saw the flash of excitement in Alice's eye which confirmed that she was an intense shopper. However, ten minutes later I found myself in the front seat of Edward's car with the heat blasting as it down-poured around us.

I can't really say what made me go. Perhaps it was the prospect of having friends, or maybe I couldn't stand to let Alice down. Whatever the reason I instantly regretted it as soon as we pulled up to the mall and Alice let out an excited shriek.

"Bella, this is going to be so much fun!" she said excitedly while we stood in the parking lot. "I'm tired of not having anyone to shop with... besides Jasper, of course." He put a hand on her small shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It was such a small gesture, but extremely intimate at the same time. I felt intrusive having witnessed it.

"Well, we're off to the music store," said Edward. He pushed Jasper away from Alice in the direction of one of the side entrances.

"So, Bella where do you usually shop?" she asked as we entered through the main doors.

I shrugged.

"Online, mostly." Alice's face dropped slightly at this. "I don't normally shop, actually. I mean I've never really gone to the mall with..." I was about to say friends but thought better of it. "other people."

"Hmm..." she said, as she did she began to circle me like a hawk does before they make the kill. "Well then this is kind of the perfect opportunity for you to get a new look." She misread the fear on my face as me being offended. "I don't mean that you need one, obviously. It's just, the whole "plain Jane" thing doesn't do anything for your killer bod. And that hair! It's absolutely gorgeous and needs clothes to match."

She was talking so fast I could barely keep up. I knew I wore plain, boring clothes. I liked it that way. I wasn't really interested in trends or anything I just wanted comfort.

"Alice, I like comfortable clothes," I almost whined.

She laughed.

"Bella, I'm sure even you could find comfort in fashion, just let me help you," she was nearly begging at this point.

"Fine."

She smiled the biggest smile I'd ever seen on anyone and dragged me off into some store I had never even heard of.

The afternoon was worse than I could have ever imagined. After convincing Alice that I would never, under any circumstance wear a dress to school she settled for my bargain of one skirt a week, I regretted it instantly, some of the things Alice thought were skirts more closely resembled headbands.

She put me in a bunch of sweaters and tops that were far too low cut, but with the right undershirt I knew I could make them a little better, so I gave in.

The boys came to meet us while we were in the dressing room of one of the many stores that I had never heard of. It surprised me when they both took seats right outside our dressing rooms. Was this normal? I felt uncomfortable right away, especially since in this particular store, Alice had talked me into trying on a red tube top and some really tight jeans.

"Bella, are you ready?" Alice asked as she knocked lightly on my dressing room door.

Not wanting to make a big deal I came out of the dressing room trying to seem casual.

"Absolutely not." I said to the pouting Alice, I couldn't face the boys without blushing so I didn't bother. "This is where you've crossed the line."

She laughed.

"Bella, you look hot. You need to own that outfit." she said stressing the word 'need'.

I rolled my eyes as my face turned the color of the shirt, if you could even call it that.

"Okay, second opinions," she said, grabbing my arm and making me face the boys. "Yes or no?"

Jasper, being the well trained shopper that he had to be for Alice simply nodded, barely looking up from the album cover to the CD he had just bought. Edward simply stared, he looked like he didn't know what to say. I silently cursed Alice for putting me through this.

"Edward?"

"Are you comfortable?" he asked. He had stopped staring at the outfit and was now looking me straight in the eye.

"Hmm?" I asked, not fully understanding the question.

"Don't buy it if you're not comfortable wearing it." It was as if he could read my mind.

His intense stare held me for a beat too long. I heard Alice giggle a bit from next to me which caused me to look away. I had to shake my head a bit before I could remember what we were talking about.

"I'll never wear it anywhere." I stated simply, starting to return to normal.

Alice gave me a quizzical look but sighed, defeated. I took the chance to run into the dressing room and change back into my normal clothes still feeling slightly dizzy, probably from embarrassment.

Once Alice was done checking out we all returned to the car, Alice and I each had three or four bags. It was the most I had ever bought in one shopping trip.

When we pulled into the driveway Alice and Edward got out, following us into the house. I rushed upstairs to get out of the way, thanking them all again for the trip. After everything was put away in my closet I glanced in the mirror hanging over my dresser, my hair was damp and wavy and I had some red in my cheeks, which was rare, it must have been from running around the mall with Alice. There was a soft knock on my door.

"Come in."

The door opened, it was Rosalie.

"Where have you been?" she asked, trying to sound indifferent.

"Out," that would drive her crazy; I knew she was dying to know.

"with who?"

"Jasper and the Cullens," I said shortly.

She nodded, still unsatisfied. While glancing around the room, her eyes landed on the empty shopping bags. Her eyebrows rose.

"You shop at Banana Republic?

I shrugged.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Umm, come in?"

It was Alice, she was holding a white shopping bag, and she had a sneaky smile on.

"Oh hey, Rosalie," she said politely.

"Hey, Alice," she replied in a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Bella," said alice, moving so Rosalie was behind her. "I know you said that you wouldn't wear it, but then it dawned on me that if it was a gift you could be guilted into wearing it."

I groaned.

"Alice," I said in the whiney tone that I had never used before I met Alice. "I really don't feel comfortable in it."

"In what?" asked Rosalie. "All Bella ever wears is denim and flannel."

I sighed. You wear one flannel shirt around the house and you're pegged for life as a lumberjack.

Alice rolled her eyes at me before turning to face Rosalie. Did she just make a silent joke with me?

"Well that's the whole point to this, Bella is gorgeous but she doesn't flaunt it," she said stressing the word 'flaunt'.

Rosalie rudely snorted, at the word gorgeous. I couldn't really blame her I had chuckled too.

"I'm not really one to 'flaunt'," I said putting air quotes around flaunt.

"Well you should," Alice said seriously. "Edward liked it, he could barely blink when you came out of the dressing room."

Rosalie quickly snapped her head up to glare at me. I blushed, furiously.

"Alice I..." I started, but Alice cut me off.

"Listen Bella, it's a gift. I don't expect you to wear it at school or anything, but maybe you could consider wearing it to my party at the end of the marking period?"

Alice was known for throwing a party at the end of every marking period. Her parents were extremely laid back, and as long as all of the kids promised to stay over then then Mr. and Mrs. Cullen would leave and not ask any questions about what went on as long as their house looked the same when they got back. I had never gone, nor cared. Rosalie on the other hand, was determined to be invited to at least one of the parties before she graduated. Because everyone had to stay over the guest list was limited to only twenty people, which was uncomfortable because Alice was friends with everyone. So only close friends were invited.

"I'll think about it," I said, not wanting to fully agree until I tried on the outfit again, maybe it wasn't as bad as I was remembering.

"Alice!" It was Edward's voice.

"I have to go," said Alice. She gave me a small embrace before heading towards the door. "See you tomorrow morning, Bella. By Rosalie!"

Once she was gone Rosalie just let out an annoyed huff and left.

**Well I hope you liked it! I'm sorry I made you wait so long for it. Anyone who is still reading this is honestly amazing because I really suck at posting regularly. Let me know what you think in the reviews!!**


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